Time to Pretend
by completely-cullen
Summary: When pop star Izzie Phillips wants a chance at a normal life, she goes undercover as Bella Swan to attend university. Here she meets the handsome Edward Cullen, but has no idea that he was hired by her father to protect her! AH, future lemons, r&r please!
1. Prologue

**A/N: Here is the prologue to my first story, hope you like it! Have a read and give me some feedback please.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight related, and unfortunately for me that includes Edward Cullen!**

_When pop star Izzie Phillips wants a chance at a normal life, she goes undercover as Bella Swan to attend university. Here she meets the handsome Edward Cullen, but has no idea that he was hired by her father to protect her._

**BPOV:**

I looked at Izzie Phillips in the mirror one last time. She was a stranger to me, yet a famous face to the rest of the world. I used to see myself in the mirror, but bit by bit I was changed into the stereotypical young pop star that now stood before me.

My mind wandered back to the day I was told I was going to be a star. It was the words I had always dreamed to hear, except they came with a condition. I was told I was pretty, but not exactly 'superstar material'. If I wanted to make it big, I had to look the part too. Looking back it seems stupid, but the naïve 14-year-old me was willing to do anything it took; blonde hair dye, hair straightener, fake tan, contacts, a new revealing wardrobe, lose 20 pounds… anything. I did it all with a smile, accepting that I needed to change the way I looked in order to achieve my goal.

It worked… I became a star. Girls loved to bop along to my catchy tunes, and the guys were happy with the pretty blonde dancing around in the short skirt. People liked the songs that _I _had written… even if they were changed a bit to be 'teen-friendly'. I had a string of number one hits, was a regular guest for TV interviews, I met many famous people, dated a famous musician and became a superstar. I was on top of the world… and not just because my father was famous or wealthy. They all loved _me_… or at least I thought they did. I had come to realise that _this_ wasn't me. Not even close.

I took out my contact lenses, revealing my brown eyes. Not many people know that my eyes aren't really a sparkling bright blue shade… not even my boyfriend of almost two years. Well… I guess I should say ex-boyfriend. It's been over two months now.

I slowly stepped into the shower, and started to scrub a spot on my leg. I scrubbed hard, until I could feel my leg throbbing with pain. I saw the water that was running down my body turn the slightest bit orange, and I stopped and glanced down at the ivory skin I had revealed.

As I continued scrubbing I thought of Sarah, the lady whose sole job was to make sure I looked tanned all the time. It was ridiculous… my pale skin was deemed to be 'abnormal', and it was considered vital that I always looked like I had recently returned from a holiday in Hawaii.

It took about fifteen minutes of hardcore scrubbing, but eventually I got off almost all of the fake tan that had been applied a few days ago. As I got out of the shower I was tempted to look in the mirror, but I had decided that I only would look when I was done. I grabbed the chocolate brown hair dye, which was my natural hair colour, and ran it through my damp hair. I then covered my head with a shower cap, and filled the basin with acetone to soak off my fake nails. After finally succeeding, I stepped back into the shower and rinsed my hair out, and the scrubbed off the makeup that was caked on my face.

And I mean caked.

Three layers of foundation had been applied to cover every tiny imperfection of my skin. My eyes had dark eye shadow, as well as thick eyeliner and mascara. The look was topped off with red lipstick staining my lips, and a considerable amount of blush on my cheeks.

I tried to hold in my excitement as I ran out of the shower, and wrapped a towel around my head, still avoiding the mirror. After rummaging around in my draws I eventually found my baggy old The Clash t-shirt, and slipped it on with a pair of jeans.

I went to the chest of drawers next to my bed and pulled out a photograph from the second drawer. The picture was taken 5 and a half years ago, and the girl in the photo staring back at me was smiling.

She was happy and carefree.

She was me.

The girl in the baggy sweater and faded jeans was Bella, and she was my chance at a normal life.

After many hours of arguing, I had eventually convinced my father to let me try to 'slip under the radar'. It was understandable that he would be upset, as he owned Eclipse Records, the record company that I was reeling in the cash for. I convinced him to let me get away from this life, and do something a normal 20-year-old would be doing… attending University.

I decided I would use my preferred first name and adopt my mothers' maiden name to become Bella Swan, a student at Chappler University. My biggest challenge would be to blend in and not be recognised.

Thanks to the many hours my beauticians spent weekly transforming my appearance to disguise the real me, I was confident this could be accomplished.

With my fake tan gone for the first time in years, my hair back to its normal colour and with light waves, my eyes once again brown… I felt a surge of hope. Hope that my plan at normality would succeed. I really hoped that, with all the changes I had made, I would not look like Izzie Phillips anymore.

Would it be enough? I mean, no pressure or anything… but my future happiness depends on this working!

I removed the towel from around my head and walked back into the bathroom.

I took a deep breath, stood in front of the mirror and slowly looked up.


	2. Pieces of Me

**Thanks for the reviews for the prologue everyone, here is the first chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I totally own Edward Cullen. Oh no, wait… that was just a dream. Steph Meyer owns all.**

Chapter 1: **Pieces of Me**

**EPOV**

"Edward Cullen?" a female voice called from behind the reception desk. "Mr Phillips will see you now."

I carefully closed my book and stood up, beginning my walk toward his office. Charlie Phillips was one of the richest men in LA, and not to mention one of the most powerful. I still couldn't believe he wanted to talk to me. I was very curious as to what our meeting would be about, and how he even knew who I was. It then occurred to me that Charlie Phillips probably knew everything about everyone, and that I shouldn't be surprised at all.

I finally reached his office door, took a deep breath and knocked twice.

"Come in Mr Cullen." a low voice called from inside. I opened the door and entered the room.

As I gazed around it was obvious that Charlie Phillips was very, very rich. His office was big and open, with one wall made up of windows that overlooked the beautiful LA coastline. The furniture was very modern and stylish, and the decorating was obviously done by someone who charges thousands of dollars an hour.

Slowly the big black chair swivelled around, and I was met face-to-face with the man who continued to grace our financial magazine covers frequently.

"Take a seat Mr Cullen." He said simply.

I found the closest chair and sank into it, while he rummaged through papers.

"Crew… Crosby…Crowley…. Culbert," he muttered. "Ahh, Cullen." He said as he pulled out a file from his cabinet.

"Edward Anthony Cullen, born in Chicago in 1989" he began reading. "… aged 20 years and two months. Correct, yes?" he questioned.

"Yes Mr Phillips, sir, that's me." I responded nervously.

He chuckled, apparently amused at my nervousness. "Please boy, call me Charlie."

"Okay, Thanks Charlie." I smiled, the situation becoming a little less awkward.

"Let's get down to business. You are probably wondering what you are doing here." He paused.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I am. I'm quite surprised." I admitted.

"Well… it has to do with my daughter, Isabella," he began

Isabella Phillips. As in Izzie Phillips, the teen popstar.

Even I had heard of her, and none of my friends were 10-year-old girls. So that was really saying something.

"I take it you know of her?" Charlie questioned, seemingly reading my mind.

"Yes, of course I do," I replied. "She is a good singer."

It wasn't a _total_ lie. I had only heard one or two of her songs, and they sounded too synthesised and altered over the generic catchy pop beats for me to form an educated opinion of her talent level, but she sounded much the same as the other artists like her, and I assumed that meant that she was good.

"She certainly is very popular." I added after a few seconds of deliberation.

His faint smile turned into a small frown.

'Well Edward, that is just the problem, and the main reason I asked you to meet with me today." he said.

I was even more confused now than I was before. What could I have anything at all to do with Izzie Phillips? The only thing that we had in common was the fact that we were both humans residing on planet earth.

"Firstly Edward, before I explain any further, I need to confirm something with you," he began. "You are the brother of Alice Cullen, are you not?"

My eyes grew at the mention of my baby sister. Okay… maybe _baby_ sister was pushing it. She was a mere four minutes younger than me, but younger nonetheless. What did this have to do with Alice? I became quite worried, adding to the high level of confusion I was feeling. I was in a seemingly different world in this office, but the mention of Alice brought me back to reality. I remembered I had yet to answer his question.

"Um… yes, sir… she is my twin sister."

His facial expression didn't change as he fired his next question at me.

"And you will be attending Chappler University together this semester, correct?"

I was sure the surprise was evident on my face. "Yes, sir. We start there in a couple of weeks.' I paused, then continued, "I'm sorry sir, but what exactly does this all have to do with your daughter?"

"Well Edward, as you know Isabella is very, very famous. For the past four years she constantly had paparazzi following her every move. They just… never let up. She has been the subject of many a vicious and untrue tabloid or gossip article, and it has recently started to really get to her. She doesn't have any time to be 'normal'." he explained.

I smiled. Poor little rich girl. Surely such worries could be fixed by a simple mani-pedi?

He continued, oblivious to my amusement, "She came to me a couple of months ago and said that she was not happy with how her life was going… she was worried about not liking the person she had become and being on the 'wrong path' or something like that. She wanted a chance to be normal, and wanted to quit singing, so we came up with a deal. She would record one last album for my record company, and then she would attend university and get away from it all."

That seemed strange. Why the hell did she want to go to university? What would she study? But the biggest question was her age. She looked 15… 16 at best, was she even old enough to go to college? And once again, what in God's name did this have to do with me? I decided to go with the former and avoid unnecessary anger on Charlie's part.

"Sir, where exactly do I come into this? What do you want me to do?" I asked.

He shuffled through a few papers before answering.

"Well, the dilemma is that Izzie could never be a normal girl at college. There would be too many photographers around, and she would no be treated equally to her peers, or even by her peers for that matter. What I am trying to say is that Izzie will be attending college undercover. She will be 'in hiding' from her current life in the spotlight, and pretending to be somebody else. She is going to call herself Bella and use Swan as he last name, which is her mother's maiden name."

Bella.

Beautiful.

It was a lovely name, but not one I imagined on a 16-year-old popstar. Especially a platinum blonde one.

"Charlie, won't she be recognised easily? Someone would quickly alert the media and…"

"She believes she has change her appearance enough to fit in." he interrupted, and then continued. "One important part of our deal was that if she recorded her songs the way I wanted her to, and she went on an extended promotion tour, I would let her go without supervision or bodyguards. She wants to be free and she wants to learn and 'discover herself' or something like that."

Discover herself. She fed her dad a line. She just wants to get drunk, party hard and smoke pot without the paparazzi taking happy snaps. I know girls like that. Like her.

"Edward, this is where you come in. I need to know that my daughter, the biggest money earner for Eclipse records, is safe. She needs to be able to come back in one piece, so that in a couple of months when she tires of the university idea and realises how good her life actually is, she can go back to earning me the big bucks. She has decided to attend Chappler University, and I want someone to be there on my behalf to make sure that she stays safe and doesn't do anything outrageous. Someone to look out for her."

Oh. Before I could ask "Why me?", he answered my unspoken question.

"Chappler recently informed us that Isabella will be rooming with your sister Alice Cullen, and I therefore thought that you were the man for the job."

As I absorbed the information, I realised he basically wanted me to baby-sit a popstar. This wasn't exactly how I imagined spending my time at college.

"What exactly would it involve?" I asked him.

He then proceeded to explain details of his plan… how only he and I would know that I would be working for him. He explained that Isabella would have no idea that I knew who she really was, and that I would have to try and get close to her and become her friend, hopefully helped along through the connection we both would have with Alice, who would be oblivious to the plan. Becoming her friend was the ultimate goal, because from this position I could watch over her, relay to Charlie what she was up to, and encourage her to do, or not to do, certain things as per his wishes.

"Sir, I don't know if I quite like the idea of going behind people's backs." I said. " I mean, I would basically be lying to Bella and my family members at Chappler. "

"You have other sibling at Chappler besides Alice?" he inquired.

"Yes, my older brother Emmett is in his final year there. Lying to them all… sending you information… it doesn't really sound like a good idea."

"Edward, we haven't even got to the good part yet. Do you think there would be nothing in it for you?" he asked. "I was informed by a member of my research team that you recently gained a place at Harvard Medical School, but had to turn it down due to a… lack of finances. Is this correct?"

Wow. He was good. "Yes, unfortunately my parents couldn't afford the tuition." Tuition was $31,000 per year alone, and that didn't even include books and living expenses, which were around $13,000. My parents worked hard, but they were still paying off their house and trying to get a new business up and running, and I knew that me attending Harvard was not a possibility. Even if it had been my dream since I was 10 years old.

"What if I told you that I know a guy at Harvard who owes me a favour?" he said

"What sort of favour are we talking about, Charlie?"

He smiled. "Edward, if you do this for me, you have a spot waiting at you at Harvard for next year with absolutely no expenses."

I am sure my jaw dropped. Money was the only thing holding me back from my dream of becoming a doctor and helping people.

"It's all here in writing Edward." He said as he handed me a set of papers. "You agree to do this for me, and even if Isabella quits after a week, you will be going to Harvard next year and not have to pay a cent. What do you say?" he held out his hand for me to shake.

I wanted to study medicine at Harvard so badly. I had once told myself that I would do absolutely anything to achieve my goal, and I had thought it would be much worse than keeping an eye on a little girl all day.

"Okay," I said, reaching for his hand. "I'll do it."

**Thanks for reading guys, leave me a review and tell me what you think!**


	3. Another White Dash

**A/N: Extremely sorry that I took so long to update, I was finishing off the last of my exams. Well here we go, Chapter 2 (eventually!). Enjoy, and thanks for the reviews, keep them coming.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, or anything mentioned in this chapter. Promise. Please don't sue me. I'm saving up to buy a plane ticket to NY to stalk Rob and then convince him that I am the girl of his dreams.  
**

Chapter 2: **Another White Dash**

_Well come on, let's go, and head off to Mexico,_

_and build our dreams on siestas of the day._

_I'll take my guitar, who knows it might get us far,_

_and we'll call each other by our fake names._

_We'll restart our lives,_

_cut the others off with lies._

_You don't know how lucky we are._

- Mexico by Laura Marling

**BPOV**:

Driving a beat-up old Chevy truck was a lot different than being chauffeured around everywhere in a limo, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

My dad tried to insist that I take his private jet to get to Chappler, but I eventually convinced him that my independent journey had to start with my first step out the door of our house.

Okay, maybe not _exactly_ the first step out my door… since I could guarantee that their would be at least ten guys with cameras waiting outside ready to follow me wherever I went. This meant that I had to ride in the limo for a while so that my driver Joe could try and 'lose' them.

Surprisingly he got rid of them in only seven minutes, which was almost record time since it usually takes at least fifteen minutes to shake off the paparazzi.

Joe had dropped me off outside of an old warehouse, and winced as he saw me leave his spotless shiny black limo and get into the rusty old red truck I had purchased a few days earlier. As soon as I had seen it, I knew that I was going to buy it. It was absolutely perfect for me… despite the fact that it was made before my parents were even born.

I smiled as that Jason Mraz song that everybody knows all the words to came on the radio, and I turned the volume up as loud as it could go and started to sing along. I was feeling very nervous; about fitting in, about being recognised; but above all that I was excited and happy. This was my chance.

I looked up into the mirror at my reflection, and jumped slightly as the unfamiliar face looked back at me. I still couldn't believe how different I looked, and how successful the first part of my plan had been. It was like I was looking at myself before all _that_ happened.

I checked my GPS, which told me that I was 18 hours down, 6 to go.

Six hours until I arrived at Chappler and tried to fit in with everybody there. I would start with trying to make friends with my roommate. I grabbed the folder of information on the seat next to me, and pulled out the information sheet I had been sent and flipped to the section on housing arrangements.

'_**Bella Swan,' **_it said,_** 'you will be rooming with Alice Mary Cullen in dorm 109, in the Rehmora Building.'**_

Well Alice, I can't wait to meet you.

During my years in the spotlight, I had always considered myself just an ordinary girl on the inside. I was about to find out if this was really the case.

_____________________

**EPOV**

"_Good morning passengers, this is your captain speaking. Despite the weather conditions, we have taken off smoothly and are now cruising at an altitude of 35,000 feet, and we estimate to arrive in Seattle in just over 2 hours. You are now free to move about the cabin, and to turn on any appropriate electronic devices that you may require. Thank you, and have a nice flight."_

I had been taken straight from the meeting to the airport in one of Charlie's limos, and this was the first opportunity that I had to pull out my laptop and do a little research on my 'subject' Izzie Phillips. For a second I envisioned myself as a secret agent working undercover, like a childhood dream. I laughed at my childish outlook, earning a few glances from neighbouring passengers. Luckily, there weren't too many people on the plane, courtesy of the first-class ticket Charlie had purchased for me to return home to Seattle.

Unlike the nervousness I had felt on the flight out to LA for the meeting with Charlie, I found myself quite excited. Don't get me wrong, the idea of babysitting a bratty popstar didn't appeal to me in the slightest, but attending Harvard did.

With the laptop that Charlie had provided for me all booted up, and a notepad at the ready, I began my search. I opened up Google and typed _Izzie Phillips _into the search engine.

_**Your search for 'Izzie Phillips' returned 49,300,000 results.**_

I was astounded that there were almost 50 million websites, articles and interviews about this girl. How interesting could she really be?

I decided to click on an information page near the top of the results to begin with, to get some basic facts and jot them to use later.

The page had a large picture of her performing at a concert of some sort. Her dead straight blonde was down, and the extremely short pink skirt she was wearing explained why there were so many dads sitting down in the front row with their children. I sighed quietly, and then began reading the first line.

_**Isabella 'Izzie' Marie Phillips was born on 23**__**rd**__** September 1989 in Los Angeles, California.**_

1989? Wow… she was nearly 20, like me. I had been sure that she was only about 15 or 16. Even so, I knew that she would hardly be as mature as other people her age. The way she had lived her entire life would have heavily influenced her, and I fully expected her to be stuck-up and bitchy.

I read a few more facts about the girl, and then clicked on a link to a page full of articles written about her. The top one on the list caught my attention, and I clicked on it and started to read.

_**The Heartbreak of Izzie Phillips**__** by J. Jenks**_

_**Pop singing sensation Izzie Phillips has had more number one hits than many artists put together, but behind the scenes the daughter of the man behind Eclipse Records, Charlie Phillips, has had her heart broken.**_

Heartbreak… really? I doubt she could have gone through real heartbreak. Not like what I went through with Tanya.

_**A close friend of the family told us that Izzie had been dating Jacob Black, lead guitarist of the popular band 'Your Wolves', for longer than the public really knew. The first public appearance of the two together was at the launch of her fourth best-selling album last year, but the source claims that the two were childhood friends who grew up together in LA, and had been dating for around 2 years. After their much-publicised messy split earlier this year after Izzie caught…**_

Blah, blah, blah. She had a boyfriend. They broke up. Tedious stuff.

I clicked the back button and wrote the info on my pad. _Izzie dated a famous musician for two years. _

I spent the next two hours reading a few more articles about her, all from the same angle, detailing her musical achievements and family life. I got bored quickly. She had released a handful of albums, did cameos in a few movies, had her own fashion line, was friends with a few other annoying teen pop stars, and wore pink to almost every event she attended.

_Edward, you can make friends with this immature pink popstar, right?_ I added to the end of my list. _Or at least pretend to._

I watched an interview with her on YouTube, and even her high voice sounded fake. She talked about what she liked to do in her spare time, and what she thought of her fans. The interview was a typical one to appeal to teen audiences, and with the mundane questions that she was being asked I found myself ready to stop watching it before it had ended.

Just as I was about to close the page, the reporter asked his final question;

"_**Izzie, you are rich, you're hot, you're extremely successful and you have a famous boyfriend. You must be ecstatic with how your life is going. Tell me, would you change anything?"**_

The question seemed to surprise her, and her whole appearance changed. Her smile dropped, her eyes closed, and she sighed quietly. She looked so sad; completely different to how she had looked a mere 5 seconds ago, and she bit her bottom lip as if you hold back from saying something. Then, just as quickly as the moment had come, it left, and she opened her eyes and broke out into a big smile that looked even more fake than usual. She ran a hand through her long blonde hair and said, _**"No. Everything is perfect. Absolutely perfect."**_

And, for the first time, I wondered if there was more to Izzie Phillips than meets the eye.

I mentally corrected myself.

Bella.

Bella Swan.

I guess I would soon find out.

I closed my laptop just as the captain announced our upcoming descent into Seattle Airport. My parents were out of town, so I getting a taxi straight to the Chappler dorms.

Straight to the place where I would begin working for a multi-millionaire to secretly keep an eye on his famous popstar daughter by becoming her friend.

Shit.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

_______________

**A/N: My my my…It's almost time for them to meet! Next chapter is all written, I'll be updating soon. **

**Clicky click click the button below and tell me what you think!**


	4. Calling All Friends

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. You know who does.**

Chapter 3: **Calling All Friends**

**EPOV**

"Eddie, over here!" the unmistakable voice of my brother Emmett boomed across the airport. I turned and spotted him easily, what with him being a giant and all, enthusiastically waving me over to him. I smiled and made my way in his direction, and when we reached each other he gave me his best big brother hug. He had just returned from Chappler's football camp, and I hadn't seen him in a few weeks.

"Em, how many times must I ask you not to call me Eddie?" I playfully inquired. "You know I hate it!"

"At least one more time Eddie," he smiled and gave his usual reply. "And by the way, it's good to see you too."

"Yeah, yeah," I laughed and we began to make our way to his car. "So was football camp successful? Am I looking at Chappler's starting quarterback?"

"You bet your scrawny ass you are!" he said as he punched my fist. "Third year straight, baby!" Emmett was an exceptionally talented footballer, so it came as no surprise really, but I was pleased for him all the same. I knew this meant he was even closer to getting scouted into a big and important team. And I also knew this meant that there was going to be a celebratory party in his dorm.

"You know what this mean, buddy?" he asked, reading my mind. "P-p-p-par-tay!" he all but squealed. At times he really was just a big kid, and it was one of the things that I loved the most about him.

I laughed as he continued, "Tomorrow night, come anytime after 8. Tell Ali and Jazz for me."

I shuddered as I thought of the two of them. My sister and my best friend were dating. I have had enough time to get used to it, but it still all seemed a bit weird. Jasper and I had been inseparable since third grade, and he spent almost all is time at our house, and I had gone from watching him tease Alice and pull her hair to having to witness the make out sessions they insist on having after being apart for more than a few hours.

I imagined it would only get worse now that instead of living three streets apart, Jasper and I would be living just down the hall from Alice. I almost died the other day when Alice suggested that I would need to buy some good quality earplugs for when she… stays over. Yuck. I mean I love both Alice and Jazz, but I always tell myself that all they do behind closed doors is hold hands.

At first I had been ecstatic when I found out that I would be rooming with Jasper, but when I thought of it in terms of possibly walking in on him and my sister doing _something, _I was a little less enthused. But I had bought earplugs as Alice had suggested, as well as making sure that I brought my stereo over from the house to drown out any excessive noise if need be. And for Jasper I had got a 'Do not disturb' sign for the door handle outside his room.

As much as I give them shit for their relationship and played the disapproving brother card, I have never seen either of them as happy as when they are together. They complement each other perfectly, like yin and yang, and even though they are still quite young we are all sure that one-day Jasper will be joining the family officially.

As we drove along the highway Emmett and I talked about his time at football camp, the ever-growing entourage of women that are in love with him, and Chappler in general. Em had told Alice, Jazz and I so much about Chappler, and added with the fact that we had visited him many times and attended many of its open days and events, we were pretty sure we knew the place quite well.

He asked me about the reasoning behind my very short trip to LA, and I told him that I had just been flown over by the head of the Harvard board, who lives there, for a meeting about the possibility of attending Harvard on a scholarship next year.

The first of many lies I would have to tell to those close to me.

If Emmett seemed doubtful about my explanation, as he should've been, he didn't show it, and changed the subject to how our mother's new interior design business was going.

We talked and laughed the whole trip there, and I found myself feeling extremely happy that I was going to be living near him this year. Things haven't been the same without him at home, though he always visited on weekends.

Once we got to Chappler Em grabbed all of the stuff I had packed to bring here before I left for LA, and helped me carry it up to my dorm room. He said that Jazz and I were lucky to get a room as big as the one we have, and especially as it was conveniently placed not too far from both his dorm and Alice's. I was glad that Chappler was a university whose dorm rooms resembled small apartments. The kitchen was small, as was the bathroom; but at least we didn't have to share them with other people.

Emmett said he was rooming with Seth again, his friend from the football team. He wondered who Alice's roommate would be, and whether or not she was hot. Of course, I didn't mention that I knew exactly who her new roommate was. Hot… I guess. I thought that she looked more _cute_ than hot from what I had seen. But then again, I had not seen her 'disguise' so to speak. She could be really ugly, or look even more plastic. I had no idea, but since I was actually looking for somebody who resembles Izzie Phillips, I hoped it would be relatively easy to recognise her.

I declined Emmett's offer of grabbing a burger down at the food area, having already eaten on the plane and feeling the need to get started with my unpacking. I also hadn't slept in two days and was looking forward to getting some rest.

Not five minutes after Em had left, Jasper finally arrived.

"Hey dude," he greeted, flashing me a big smile. "How are ya?" Jasper's shit-eating grin told me that he was just with Alice.

"Alright, pretty tired though. How's Alice?" I asked.

"She's great," he laughed. "She told me to come here and unpack, and then drag you down to see her and maybe grab a bite?"

As much as I wanted to see Alice, there was a chance that Bella might be there already, and in my tired and possibly grumpy state I knew that probably wasn't a good idea. I needed to make a good first impression… especially if I wanted us to become very good friends. I needed a bit more time to mentally prepare myself.

"I'm absolutely beat man, I think I am going to have to give it a miss tonight." I said, not missing the slightly relieved look on his face. I was sure he wanted Alice all to himself tonight. "Tell her we'll catch up tomorrow. You two have fun, I assume you won't be staying here tonight?"

"You assume correctly," he laughed. "Later man," he playfully punched my shoulder and made his way back out into the hall.

I shoved all mental images of the two of them to the back of my mind, and started unpacking everything from my two large suitcases. I then realised that I would be without my piano and guitar for the first time since I was 8. I would need to go back to the house and pick up my guitar, and maybe even look into buying a keyboard for my room. Esme would never let me take our baby grand piano in to here, and I doubt we would have room for it anyway. Thinking of my mother, I decided to give her a call and tell her that my flight had landed safely.

I finally hung up the phone after a good talk that lasted a few hours, telling her to expect a visit from me this weekend to pick up my guitar.

Deciding that sorting my clothes into the closet could wait until morning, I slipped into a pair of pajama pants and fell on to my bed, my thoughts consumed by the task I would have ahead of me tomorrow.

- - -

It was just as well that I had woken up early, because my dear sister Alice sent me a text at exactly bright and early. She really did bring new meaning to the term _morning person._

_**Hey E, how was your flight? Don't forget that Em's get-together is tonight! I'm going to try and get there around 9, and if my roommate has arrived by then, I'll try to bring her along as well. **_

_**See you tonight xoxo Ali**_

So that was where I would meet Bella. A party, of all places.

I had decided that today I would watch some more interviews of her, and try to gauge any possible conversation topics that could be useful for tonight.

I considered checking the library to see if such a thing as '_Befriending Teenage Pop Stars for Dummies_' existed. I was prepared to lie through my teeth to make it seem like we had many common interests, but I was going to draw the line at saying that my favorite TV show was something line Hannah freaking Montana.

All this was making me incredibly nervous, so before I could psyche myself out any more than I already had, I decided to head down to the coffee shop to get a latte and clear my head.

______

**BPOV**

As I drove into one of the two parking spots allocated to my dorm room, I took in my surroundings. Calling Chappler _big _would be an understatement. It was _huge, _but thankfully it contained an adequate amount of signs which, combined with the powers of the map I had been issued, assured that even _I_ couldn't get lost.

I could tell that I was going to have the map permanently held up in front of my face for the first couple of days. This concerned me, as I was quite paranoid about being recognised by somebody, and I feared that I would stand out like a tourist in New York wearing an 'I heart NY' t-shirt and a statue of liberty hat if the map was glued to my face all the time.

I was pretty happy with how the trip from LA to Seattle had gone; I was only 45 minutes behind schedule, and only twice had my GPS shouted at me for going the wrong way.

I decided to leave all of my bags in the backseat of the truck and bring them up to my room later to unpack. After all that driving I was in need of some serious caffeine.

I followed my map and the various shiny new signs around me until I came across what was aptly named the 'Food and Drink Area'.

There was a burger bar, a large café and various other little food stores that were crowded with hungry-looking people, but I opted to walk past these and headed to a quaint looking little coffee shop at the end of the row of stores.

As soon as I stepped inside I knew it would more than likely become a place that I would frequently be visiting.

It was warm and cosy, with a delicious coffee bean and cake smell wafting through from behind the counter. The walls were filled with old posters of actresses such as Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, and I could definitely imagine sinking into one of those comfy-looking red chairs near the back with a good book. One of the things that had appealed to me the most when making the decision to put my music career on hold was that I would have more time to myself, which also meant more time to read.

I slowly made my way to the counter, and a baby-faced blonde guy greeted me with a big smile.

"Hi, what can I get you?" he asked, while looking me up and down.

"Umm… could I have a skinny mocha latte, please?" I asked, a bit creeped out at the way he was staring at me.

"Sure," he smiled and processed the order into the register. "What is you name, sweetheart?"

Sweetheart? Really? I see where this is going. "Bella," I replied. "Bella Swan."

"Well Bella-Bella Swan, my name is Mike-Mike Newton!" he laughed, and I noticed he was talking to my chest instead of my face. Creep.

"Funny," I said, but he failed to pick up on the sarcasm.

He finally began to make my coffee, while inquiring whether or not I had any plans for tonight, and if I wanted to go to a party with him. I told him that I was going to be unpacking my stuff for most of the evening.

"Well," he began "If you finish early, you should come!" he said as he handed me my coffee. "Wait here, let me go and grab you a card with my number on it so you can call when you are done." Without waiting for my reply, he turned and made his way to the back room.

This was my chance to escape, and I quickly span around and went to make my way for the door. Unfortunately, my clumsy gene chose this moment to rear its ugly head, and I all but crashed into a person that I had no idea was even behind me.

Luckily the contents of my drink didn't spill all over the floor… but I couldn't say the same for the contents of my bag.

"I am so sorry," I quickly blurted out, while kneeling on the floor to pick up my books, without looking my victim in the eye. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

I was mortified, and I felt the blush start to appear on my cheeks. I had only been here for 20 minutes and I had managed to almost injure a fellow student.

I still tried to hide my embarrassment by avoiding eye contact, but the figure I felt next to me didn't move.

_Come on buddy, _I thought to myself._ Keep walking. Please don't scream at me or anything. At least I didn't spill my drink all over you. Trust me, others haven't been so lucky in the past._

Somewhere in my internal ramblings I felt the figure kneel down on the floor across from me. I finally looked up, and saw the best-looking man in the world helping me pick up my books.

Now people often use the term 'best-looking man in the world', but I felt that I was in a pretty good position to make that call. I sat next to Brad Pitt at the Teen Choice Awards, and at the same table as Johnny Depp at the Hollywood Film Festival. But none of those guys had anything on the Adonis that was in front of me.

He looked… perfect. Absolutely perfect. That was the only word to describe him. 'Handsome' or 'hot' just wouldn't suffice.

His eyes were a piercing green and had intensity to them that I had never seen in a pair of eyes before. He had a strong, chiseled jaw that beautifully defined face, as well as a perfectly shaped nose and mouth.

But the feature of his that stood out the most was definitely his hair. It was a beautiful color, a mix between bronze and toffee, and it looked like he had just rolled out of bed after some crazy sex the night before. I had a strong desire to run my fingers through his hair and mess it up even more.

I eventually realized that I was staring, more than likely with my mouth open, and that my expression and lack of speech may be interpreted as a severe lack of intelligence.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," the Adonis spoke, cutting of my thoughts. His voice was so perfect and smooth it could only be described as velvet. The kind of voice that does the steamy voice overs to those late night infomercials you see on TV.

He handed me the four or so books he had collected from the floor.

"Thanks," I murmured, noticing that he had held onto a few.

"Austen…Twain…Bronte…Swift," he smiled as he glanced at the authors of the books, "I'm impressed."

"Book nerd," I confessed.

"Me too," he chuckled, "Let me guess… you read _Wuthering Heights_ at least once a year?"

"Yes," I stated, shocked. "How did you know that?"

"Lucky guess… and maybe the fact that I do the same thing," he said, "but I hope that you don't let anyone else in on our little secret."

I stared into his amazing green eyes as he handed me the last of my books. Was this guy even real?

All of a sudden I heard the intro of 'Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)' coming from his pocket, and I smiled at his choice of ring tone. He looked at me with a look that seemed to convey that he would rather keep talking to me than answer his phone.

"I'd better let you get that,' I stood up, and he did too, "Sorry again for crashing into you, thanks for the help."

Looking at him standing up for the first time, I noticed that not only was he tall, but I could see that under his shirt that he was also well built. I felt sorry for any guy who had to be in the same room as him… it more than likely would make them contemplate self-harm.

"My pleasure," he called out as I started to walk away. He looked at the caller ID on his phone, and a big smile came across his face,

"Hey Em," he said, excitement evident in his voice. "Yes, we are still on for tonight…"

I sighed as I closed the coffee shop door, effectively cutting of his God-like voice. _Of course he has a girlfriend… just look at him!_

As the thought of hunting down every single girl at Chappler named Emma or Emily crossed my mind, I realised that I was being ridiculous for two reasons. Firstly, this guy was the epitome of hot, gorgeous, sexy and handsome… while I was just the plain girl who had to change every single aspect of her appearance to be considered attractive enough to succeed as a singer. Secondly, I had had my heart broken only _months_ ago, and had sworn off guys and love for a while. _Snap out of it Bella._

Seriously, what is wrong with me? I finally have a chance to get a proper education, to get qualifications and to be free… and the first hot guy that I see I am already dreaming of as my boyfriend. _Get a grip._

I decided that I should go back to my dorm and start to unpack my stuff. I hoped my roommate Alice was there so that I could introduce myself. I have heard so many crazy stories about terrible roommates, but I don't care if she snores, just as long as she is nice and friendly. And doesn't use my toothbrush.

___________

**EPOV**

After hanging up the phone with Emmett, who was checking that if I was definitely going to the party tonight, I thought about what had just happened to me in the last 5 minutes.

One moment I was mulling over whether to order my coffee with a double shot of espresso or not, and the next a girl had tripped over and crashed right into me.

She shot down and began to pick up some of the books that had spilt onto the floor before I could even make eye contact with her. All that I could surmise from looking at her was that she had long chocolate brown hair that cascaded down her back with a slight curl.

She began to apologize profusely, still avoiding eye contact with me, and I smiled slightly at her obvious embarrassment. Remembering my manners, I knelt down to aid in the collection of her books, and she finally looked into my eyes.

I must have gasped out loud at the beautiful creature in front of me. I was frozen completely still. Matching her chocolate brown hair was a pair of expressive brown eyes framed with long dark lashes. Her skin was creamy and flawless, and her lips looked soft and full, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss them.

She was nothing less than a goddess.

I eventually snapped out of it and began to pile her books and hand them to her. Acting on an impulse, I glanced down to see what this angel happened to be reading at the moment.

I was shocked, to say the least. Among them were books such as _Wuthering Heights_, _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_ and _Sense and Sensibility_. She was a fan of the classics, just like me. And she must have had at least 10 books in her book bag. I had not expected her to read this sort of literature, so I told her that I was impressed.

And then she blushed. And it was breathtaking.

The pale skin of her face came to life with the most beautiful rosy color that I had ever seen. It complimented her face beautifully, and I could almost feel the heat escaping from her cheeks.

We had exchanged a few lines about our mutual love of books, specifically _Wuthering Heights_, before Emmett's call had interrupted us. I was reluctant to answer it, but before I could say anything else she stood up, thanked me, and I watched the goddess make her way out of the shop.

Sadly, I realised that I didn't even know her name.

_Yet._

_____

**Hehehe. They finally meet, and Eddie boy didn't even realise who she was!**

**So, what do you think? **

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**Please review, review review… you know you want to :)**


	5. Just Breathe

**A/N: I am so incredibly sorry guys, real life got in the way! Thanks so much to everybody who has been reviewing, I really appreciate all your reviews! **

**Disclaimer: Characters all belong to the incredible Steph Meyer. I'm just having fun with them! **

Chapter 4: **Fall For You**

**BPOV**

_Clothes. So many clothes. _

These were the first thoughts that entered my mind as I took in the living area of my new dorm room. All over the couches and tables was a great assortment of clothes, in a vast array of colors. I looked around further, and noticed that there were at least 7 suitcases open on the floor, also filled with clothes and shoes that were yet to be unpacked.

It reminded me of the dressing room at one of my concerts, the only difference being that everything in this room seemed to be organised impeccably. Before I could continue that train of thought, I heard a squeal coming from my left. I looked up in that direction and saw someone skipping joyfully towards me, a big smile on her face.

As she got closer to me I realized that she was quite short, 5 foot at the most, with black hair in short trendy cut. Her eyes were big and green, and I felt a sense of deja vu when I looked into them that I couldn't place.

Before I could even open my mouth to introduce myself she launched herself at me, pulling me into a big hug.

"I'm so glad you're here," her musical voice began, "I was beginning to think I was going to have to spend the year talking to myself," she paused, then continued, "Wait… you are definitely Bella, my new roommate, aren't you?"

I smiled, and finally spoke, "Yes, that's me, I'm Bella Swan. You must be Alice, right?"

"I am," she confirmed, "Oh, I have been so excited to meet you! I have never lived with a girl before, just my two brothers!"

"Me neither," I replied, "I am an only child. I always wanted a sister, though. Or at least a friend who was a girl." I stopped when I realized that I was thinking about Jacob, and I had absolutely no desire to continue down that train of thought.

Alice helped me carry my bags through to my bedroom (she was surprisingly strong for somebody so little!) and then pulled me down next to her on the couch, clearing clothes to make some room.

"Sorry about all the mess," she apologized, "I'm usually pretty tidy, but I only just decided to start unpacking my bags… which as you can see contain mostly clothes!"

"I noticed. How long are you planning on living here exactly?" I joked, "You won't need to go clothes shopping for another five years!"

She feigned a look of shock before her face broke into a big smile. "Bella, Bella, Bella… I have so much to teach you! You can never have too many clothes! I was just thinking about the lack of good outfit combinations available for the party tonight!"

I glanced around at the mountain of clothes around me, and spotted many things that even _I_ would like to wear to a party.

"Alice, I'm sure you have at least one acceptable outfit in this pile of clothes that you could wear!" I laughed.

She looked at me with a mischievous glint to her eyes, and slowly smiled.

"Bella, I've known what I will be wearing for days! But you, on the other hand, had no warning at all that you would be going to a party tonight!"

I thought about protesting, but then decided that a party might be a great way to meet some people. If I was to make friends, then a party was definitely a good place to start.

"To what party are you referring, Alice?" I inquired, needing to make sure that it wasn't the sort of party that was at an old abandoned warehouse, where I would need watch where I stepped in case of needles.

"The party, or should I say gathering, that my oldest brother is throwing in his dorm room tonight! It's to celebrate him being chosen for Chappler's football team… not that there was any doubt he wouldn't make it, he is pretty huge, as you'll see. We are going over at 9, how does that suit you?" she said quickly in one breath.

"Um, that sounds good. I would like to meet some people, you are now the only person that I know at Chappler."

"Great, I knew you would want to come! There are so many people I can introduce you to there… we just need to find you something amazing to wear," she looked at me intently, "I'm thinking red, black or blue, definitely not pink. What do you think?"

I couldn't help but smile at Alice; someone finally agreed with me that pink it not the only color in the universe that a girl can wear.

She continued to talk about clothes, which led on to a discussion about her 'passion for fashion' as she called it. That comment made me want to giggle, which I eventually did. I was fairly confident that that was the slogan for those Bratz dolls that most young girls seemed to own a few years back.

Alice explained to me what she was going to be studying; she was majoring in fashion design and production while also taking some of the art courses they offered here. She clearly was very passionate about her choices, as she spoke with so much excitement in her voice that it was catchy.

I found myself really starting to get along with Alice, and I could see myself becoming very close friends with her. She was so nice and friendly; I imagined that it would be impossible for anybody not to like her.

We spoke for a good few hours before my rumbling stomach signaled my hungriness. We walked down to the food area, which Alice told me was referred to as the 'Food Strip', and we both ordered a muffin and a chicken salad wrap, then sat down to continue our discussions.

She began telling me all about her life, and I in return told her about mine. Or, at least, the story that I had made up. In other words, the lie. I realized that at that moment that it really was time to pretend. From here on out I would be lying to everyone that I met. Telling hem that I grew up in Forks (a place that I had actually only visited once) with my dad after my parents split up. I had rehearsed this cover story plenty of times, but I was still fearful that I would slip up and somehow blurt out the wrong information.

Luckily, Alice only asked a few questions about Forks, and I could answer them easily. She was more interested in my personal life, and more specifically my love life. I mentally cursed myself for not coming up with an answer to this question.

"Um… nothing exciting at all," I nervously told her, "no boyfriends for me."

Alice's eyes grew wide. "You've _never _had a boyfriend? I find that very hard to believe! You are absolutely gorgeous, how could any guy resist you?"

Me, gorgeous? I don't think so.

If I was gorgeous then I would have been able to keep my brown hair, brown eyes, and light colored skin. If I was even close to being gorgeous, the record label wouldn't have spent hours every single day trying to hide the real me.

"I'm definitely not gorgeous Alice, but thanks anyway. I guess I did have a boyfriend, sort of."

"I knew it!" she said triumphantly, "Spill the details!"

As we began to make our way back to our dorm, I couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm. I had never met anybody like Alice.

"His name was Jake. Well actually, his name _is _Jake. He's still alive,"

I sighed, and then continued, "We grew up together and were best friends. We dated for a while, and then we broke up. Not really that interesting." I said, trying to make Alice understand that I didn't really want to talk about it.

Thankfully she did, and started to change the subject before I stopped her.

"What about you, are you seeing anyone?" I asked

A big smile broke out on her face, and her whole expression changed completely. I didn't need to even know the answer; it was easy to tell that this girl was in love.

"His name is Jasper, he goes here too," she answered.

"Come on, spill!" I laughed, using her words from earlier, "I want details!"

"Alright. Well, like you and Jake, we grew up together… but we definitely were _not _best friends. He and my twin brother Edward have been best friends since third grade, and they were inseparable. He was always at our house, and for some reason we just didn't get along; I guess I thought he was just another stupid boy. He and my brother would always pick on me… they would tease me, chase me around the house, pull my hair and call me names.

"Aww… that means he liked you!" I joked.

"Well, at the time that thought _definitely_ did not occur to me, I was sure he hated me! But by the time we were about 16 he had sort of, um… grown up… I guess. One day he was annoying Jasper, and the next day he was practically sex on legs! He and Edward would do laps in our pool together to prepare for swimming meets, and I used to sit at my window for hours watching him without his shirt on!"

"Wow Alice, how very stalker-ish of you!" I laughed

"Tell me about it. I had an obsession with him, and it killed me inside to know that he really didn't like me. Then one day during senior year I found a rose in my locker. I was really excited about the fact that I might have an admirer. The next day there was a lily, then an orchid, then some daisies, then a tulip… and it went on for weeks! It was incredibly sweet, and my friends and I spent a long time trying to figure out who my admirer was… and the only guy that they could rule out, besides Edward, was Jasper!"

I laughed at this, assuming that her admirer would in fact turn out to be Jasper.

"After about a month people started to think that I was sending myself flowers for attention," she continued, " and one day in the cafeteria during lunch everyone was teasing me. One guy said, "Hey Alice, I wanna buy my girlfriend some flowers, where is the best place get them? Did they give you a discount after the first few?" Everyone was laughing at me and I was so embarrassed, I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Just before I started to cry, I heard a familiar voice from the table next to mine say, "Shut up you idiots, and leave Alice alone! She didn't send the flowers to herself, I sent them to her!" I thought I was dreaming, but I turned around and sure enough, it was Jasper."

"Oh my god, are you serious?" I asked.

"Yep, I was shocked to say the least. Jasper looked so scared afterwards… like he was afraid that I hated him. I guess we were both pretty wrong in that department."

We laughed some more as we reached our dorm room then, and Alice was quick to change the topic back to clothes.

"Now Bella, on to more important business matters! I think I have the perfect black dress for you to wear tonight…"

_____________

**EPOV**

I threw my pen hard against the wall in frustration. I had been sitting in my room for hours, and still I was getting nowhere. As much as I had tried to focus on the task ahead of me (and that's exactly what it was… a _task_) my mind involuntarily kept going back to the breathtakingly beautiful girl in the coffee shop. Not only was she gorgeous, she read classic literature too, and I found myself wandering what her opinions were on some of my favourites. I wondered if she liked the same music as me. I wondered what classes she was taking, or if she was just visiting someone here. I wondered if she had a boyfriend.

_Stop it Edward, you are being ridicul_ous. _You only talked to her for a few minutes._

I knew that I was being ridiculous, but for some unknown reason I just didn't care.

My thoughts returning to Bella, I was dismayed to find that a book called _'_Befriending Teenage Pop Stars for Dummies' didn't exist, or anything even resembling it. I had Googled 'How to make friends with a pop star', but unfortunately the only results that I found were either extremely unrealistic or basically stalker manuals. Usually I had Em, Alice or Jasper to turn to for advice, but not this time.

I was on my own.

I reached into the top drawer of my desk and pulled out my 'Izzie Phillips' notebook. I glanced over the few pages of notes that I had written, and turned to the page where I had stuck an article from some teen magazine that had interviewed her. I laughed at the doodles I had done around the page, including a speech bubble coming from her with some not-so-appropriate comments, and read over the article for the hundredth time.

Interests: Chatting on the phone, cheerleading, getting my nails done, going on shopping sprees and getting facials.

I knew it would be unlikely that we would have much in common, but I certainly assumed that she wouldn't be _that_ sort of girl… one that valued all the sorts of things that I disliked.

I glanced at my watch and cursed when I realised that I only had about half an hour before I had to be at Emmett's party. I attempted to psych myself up with an internal pep talk.

_You can do this man, you can totally do this. You can act… you had the lead role in your middle school play; you can pretend to be friends with a pop star. Think about Harvard. Your dream school. You can do this. _

I made my way to the bathroom while pulling my shirt over my head and tossing it into the hamper. I gave up attempting to control my hair a while ago as it really does have a mind of its own, so I just splashed some cool water on my face before I heard my phone ringing. Caller ID alerted me that it was Alice.

"Yes Alice?" I asked while looking around my room for a shirt to wear. I heard loud music in the background, so I assumed that she was already at Emmett's.

"Where are you?" she asked, "How long until you get here?"

I sighed. "I'm just getting dressed Ali, give me a second."

"Ok bye, I'll see you soon. I can't wait for you to meet my roommate Bella! Eddie, you'll just love her!"

She hung up before I could tell her not to use that dreadful nickname of mine.

Why the hell did she think I would like her roommate? Alice is generally a good judge of character, and she knows the type of people I get on with.

Maybe she was just joking. That must be it.

___________

**BPOV**

Breathe. Just Breathe. Nobody recognizes you, you have nothing to worry about.

I'm at a party. There are lots of people here. I just need to relax.

I had already met Jasper back in our room, and Alice had introduced me to her older brother Emmett a few minutes ago. They were both very welcoming, Emmett had even pulled me into a big bear hug, but I was unsure whether that was due to friendliness or drunkenness.

I was starting to get a bit worried when I couldn't see Alice. She must have gone into one of the bedrooms with Jasper. Something told me she wasn't kidding when she said that they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Plenty of people had come up to me and made conversation, but I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling I had.

The last thing Alice had said to me was that she had one more person to introduce me to, but that he wasn't here yet. She had a smile on her face that told me she was trying to set me up with him. I had a sudden scary feeling that that person could be the creepy Mike guy from the coffee shop, and I shuddered at the thought.

Please Alice, I don't want to be set up with anyone.

Unless… unless it was _him._

An image of the smiling boy with the beautiful hair and the gorgeous eyes came back to me. I felt my heart beat speed up dramatically at the thought of him, and my cheeks heating up.

Before somebody could come over and asked why I was blushing, I made my way to the kitchen. It was empty of people, much to my relief, and the loud music could only be faintly heard, which my eardrums were thankful for.

I spied a few empty glasses on top of a cabinet and attempted to reach them, but unfortunately they were too high up. Before I tried to climb up and risk serious injury to get one, I heard that unmistakable velvet voice from earlier today.

I spun around quickly, and sure enough, it was _him,_ the guy I had been fantasizing about all day. And, if it was possible, he looked even more handsome.

"Um," I began, realizing I hadn't understood what he'd said. "Sorry, what did you say?"

He chuckled, "I asked if you would like a hand."

_Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush!_

"That would be great," I said, moving aside. He reached up and easily got down a glass for me, and one for himself.

"What are you having?" he asked, opening the door to the fridge, before closing it again. "Actually unless you want beer, you won't find much in here."

I smiled, "I was just planning on having some water."

He walked over to the sink and filled our glasses, before handing one over to me. As he did, his fingers ever so slightly grazed mine, and I felt a rush of electricity flow through me at his touch. Thankfully I managed to keep a hold of my water, but was unable to keep the blush away from my cheeks.

"Thanks." I whispered

"You're welcome," he replied. "Are you new here?" It must be so obvious that I stick out like a sore thumb.

"Yes, I moved down here to study this year."

"What are you studying?"

"A few things… English Lit, History and Photography. You?"

"I'm pre-med, so Biology and Chemistry mostly." Wow, this guy is going to be a doctor one day? He better be a good one, all his patients will probably faint at the sight of him.

"Wow, that's fantastic. You must be really smart." Nice one Bella, just state the obvious.

He smiled, "You must be too, I've heard that History is a killer course here. And is that why you had all those books earlier, for your literature course?"

I would usually be a bit skeptical about telling somebody, let alone a hot guy, that reading occupies 90% of my spare time, but then I remembered that he'd said he reads Wuthering Heights quite often.

"No, I haven't even got the course outline yet," I began. "Those are just some of the few books I could bring from home. I really love reading."

"Same here. What else do you like to do?" he inquired. I found myself smiling. For once I didn't have to lie and pretend that I spent my whole life trying out new makeup samples and getting my nails done.

"I play guitar a lot, and a bit of piano… although I'm not very good." He raised his eyebrows at the mention of my musical instruments.

"You play guitar and piano?" I felt my cheeks heating up. What was wrong with that?

"Yes…" I replied hesitantly. "What's wrong with that?"

"No nothing, it's just… so do I" he laughed. "Quite the coincidence, don't you think?"

"Indeed it is," I said, letting out a small sigh of relief.

We continued chatting for a while, and he seemed like a really nice guy, smart and really funny. He went to go and search for a can of soda for us both, promising he'd be back soon.

For a moment I thought he was even flirting with me. I entertained the thought for a second, but then I remembered Emma. Or Emily. Or whatever the name of his girlfriend is. She's so lucky.

I thought back to the bit of the conversation I had overheard. He had told her that they were 'still on for tonight'. Weird, he blew her off to come to Emmett's party.

_Wait… Em._

_Emmett._

_Oh._

_Oh!_

I burst out laughing, at my own stupidity and in relief that there was a small possibility that he was single.

"Here she is! Bella, where have you been?" Alice called loudly from behind me, breaking me out of my daze. "I've been looking all over for you, and there's someone I want you to meet!" I turned around to the entrance of the kitchen, and saw that she was dragging the God-like guy behind her.

He looked shocked, and kept looking back from Alice to me.

"Bella, this is my brother Edward," Alice said, dragging him closer. "Edward, this is my new roommate Bella!"

Holy shit. This guy… Edward… was Alice's brother? Damn, they have some good genes running in their family. I briefly wondered what Alice would think of me having a massive crush on her brother, but then I noticed the expression on Edward's face.

He went pale in only a matter of seconds, and I thought for sure that he was going to pass out.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked. "You look a bit pale."

Alice turned to look at her brother and laughed. "Shit Eddie, you look like you've see a ghost!"

When I realized that he was staring fiercely straight at me, it stopped being funny. Why was he looking at me like that? Was it something I had done?

"Hello out there," Alice waved her hands in front of his face. "Earth to Edward! You're being rude!"

He then seemed to snap out of the trance that he was in, looked at Alice and then at me one more time, before speaking quickly.

"Sorry" he whispered, "I've got to go." With that he turned around and ran out of the kitchen.

Alice looked at me apologetically, "I'm sorry Bella, I don't know what the hell is wrong with him!" she said, then ran out following him.

I think I knew.

We obviously weren't getting on as well as I had thought.

______

**A/N: Next chapter is Edward and his reaction, should be a good one! **

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